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my adoption story

Fall weekend with friends in Virginia

I had another short trip to Washington DC last week and had a chance to visit my friends Noelle, Paul, Aidan and Keira in Charlottesville over the weekend. It was a fun pre-Halloween fall weekend with the kids. We cheered Keira on in her baseball game—she did a great job and got the game ball! She’s the only girl on her team but that didn’t seem to phase either her or the little boys on the team which is refreshing to see. Aidan and I got a chance to hang together on Sunday while Keira went to a birthday party and instead of hanging out with a gaggle of six year old roller skating girls, we had a fun time having frozen yogurt and watching a local hockey team play at the local ice rink. It was one of those beautiful fall weekends, where the weather is crisp, pumpkins are out on porches and the kids are already amped up for Halloween, waiting for the big day and anticipating their candy loot. We went out to a farm outside of town for apple picking and a hayride and then came home and made an apple pie and caramel apples. The kids showed me their Halloween costumes — a doctor and a (mad) scientist, like their Mom and Dad!—and we watched The Great Pumpkin (my favorite Peanuts show!). Aidan and Keira and both unbelievably sweet and I’m so glad that despite the long distance between us, I’ve been able to have a relationship with them and watch them grow up. Keira is just such a cutie. She fell in love with Bodhi when they visited here in April and so I had sent her a stuffed Bodhi after their trip. When I arrived last Friday, she had left stuffed Bodhi on my pillow and let me know that she wanted him to sleep with me because she thought I’d be missing my Bodhi. Stuffed Bodhi was out constant companion all weekend. So sweet. Aidan is my godson and of all the kids in my life, he has a special place in my heart. It still amazes me to think that not so long ago, he was just a little peanut of a baby, especially seeing how much he’s grown. He’s in middle school now and while he’s a big kid physically for 10 years old but still so sweet and innocent. He’s shocked when he hears other kids cuss (and in fact, uses the word “cuss”) and misbehave. He doesn’t yet have a smartphone and is not even so into video games and the most important thing on his mind is sports. And I’m grateful that he still thinks I’m pretty cool, despite the fact that I’m totally clueless about sports! He’s still talking about the Warriors game I took him to when they visited in April, despite the fact that they lost the game and we were in the nose-bleed way, way upper deck seats. Those tickets (as expensive as they were at the time) feel totally worth it. Aidan got kind of obsessed with my FitBit over the weekend and insisted on wearing it most of the weekend while running around. It turned out to be my most active weekend in a while (ha ha!). He tried to convince me that he was “helping me” get to my step goals and I should leave the FitBit behind with him. Oh how I wish that somehow delegating exercise could be an option!